Armadillo Relocation…

In the Spring, when the idea of a drought was not even on my radar…

My husband bought a pallet of grass to cover a big bald spot in the yard outside of our bedroom door. It had always been a muddy mess. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Of course, now we are in a record-breaking drought and I am giving it just enough water to keep it alive until it rains again…one day.

One of the hundreds of armadillos on the ranch appreciated the cool moist soil and decided to make it his new digging spot. He comes at night, under the cover of darkness, to dig up and chomp the juicy, chewy grubs that no doubt live under the new grass.

That was pretty irritating. Here I am carefully coaxing life from the soil and my little armored friend ruins my efforts every night.

We decided to put up a low fence to keep him out. That is pretty nice of us since I know a lot of folks that would just shoot him for target practice.

Our fence worked until last night. I saw dig holes this morning so I watched this evening to see what was getting in there. I had seen a skunk lurking in the shadows and didn’t want to argue with that tough hombre.

Sure enough, it was an armadillo, a baby, or I guess a teenager. Just the right size to fit through the squares of the fence but claws plenty big enough to cause havoc. However,his smaller size makes it just right for me to grab by the tail. My husband says they carry leprosy. Spoil Sport.

They can’t see worth a darn and are very easy to sneak up on. I reached down while he had his head stuck in the dirt and grabbed a solid handful of armadillo tail. He jumped and jerked but I am a tenacious woman. I was not letting go. Then he proceeded to pee all over me. Still not letting go!!!

I carried him to the back of my pick up and closed the tailgate. I then drove him about two miles away to a dried up pond. Hopefully, he will find some moist dirt to keep him happy and not just hitchhike back to my house. We will know in a couple of days. I’ll keep you posted.